The Past Present and Future of Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, May-November 2008
The Tenth Anniversary exhibition reveals that the museum has a longer history than its anniversary suggests...
The early staff at Porthcurno established a social club named after their perceived isolation from the rest of the world, called the Exiles club. The Exiles club celebrated Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee with a fete and a museum so we could be celebrating the 111th anniversary at least!
In the 1920s the Eastern Telegraph Company had a museum collection, and throughout the latter years of the college, and certainly since the closure of the telegraph station in 1970 when the undersea telegraph cables were all shut down, a collection of antiquities was on display for staff and students at Porthcurno.
Once the college closed in 1993, the private museum was first opened up to the public in a low key way and later operated by the Trevithick Trust, finally benefiting from the major redevelopment into the museum as we know it today in 1998. In 1999 the Cable and Wireless archive was also relocated from London to the museum at Porthcurno.
Steady growth, significant awards and major projects have all established the museum as the most significant collection of submarine telegraphy in the world and plans for the future of the museum are to develop the sustainability of the museum and safeguard the collections and provide the fullest access and learning opportunities.
The exhibition is open every day
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View of the college buildings in the 1980s, the college closed in 1993 and moved to Coventry. Cable and Wireless and HLF support opened the museum in 1998, although it had been operating with the Trevithick trust and volunteers since 1994. |
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The tunnels entrance in 1941 shortly after they were completed. The cable station at Porthcurno was buried underground to protect it from possible enemy attack. |
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A pic of the future... |
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Family friendly, formal and informal learning opportunities not only for kids. |
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The first sculpture recently installed and inspired by lissajous curves can even be climbed on... |
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One of the museum volunteers hard at work. |